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Regarding India's first solar observatory, the year 2026 will be like no other.

It's the first time the spacecraft – which was placed into space last year – will be able to observe our star when it reaches the peak of its solar cycle.

According to scientific data, it comes approximately once every 11 years when the Sun's polarity reverses – a similar Earth scenario could be the North and South poles changing places.

This period marked by intense activity. It involves the Sun transition from peaceful to violent and is marked by a huge increase in the frequency of solar storms and massive solar flares – massive bubbles of fire that blow out of the Sun's outermost layer.

Made up of charged particles, a CME may have a mass up to a trillion kilograms and reach velocities exceeding 2,000 miles per second. It can head out toward various directions, even toward our planet. At maximum velocity, it would take a CME 15 hours to traverse the 150 million km between Earth and the Sun.

"During typical or low-activity times, the Sun emits a few solar eruptions daily," explains a leading scientist. "In 2026, we expect them to be over ten each day."

Researching coronal mass ejections ranks among the key scientific objectives of India's maiden solar mission. Firstly, as these eruptions offer a chance to learn about the star in the center of our solar system, and secondly, because activities occurring on the solar surface threaten systems on our planet and in orbit.

Impacts on Our Planet and Space Infrastructure

CMEs rarely pose immediate danger to human life, yet they impact our planet through generating magnetic disturbances that impact the weather in Earth's vicinity, where nearly thousands of spacecraft, including many from India, are stationed.

"The most spectacular manifestations from solar eruptions are auroras, being direct evidence that charged particles from Sun are travelling toward our planet," the scientist clarifies.

"However, they may cause electronic systems on a satellite malfunction, disable electrical networks and affect meteorological and telecom spacecraft."

Historical Solar Events

• The strongest solar storm in history occurred during the 1859 solar superstorm which knocked out communication systems across the globe
• In 1989, a part of Canadian electrical network was knocked out, affecting millions in darkness for hours
• In November 2015, solar storms disturbed flight operations, leading to chaos in Sweden and various European airports
• In February 2022, an ejection had led to 38 commercial satellites being lost

If we are able to see what happens in the solar atmosphere and detect a solar storm or solar eruption as it happens, record its temperature at the source and watch its path, it can work as a forewarning to shut down power grids and spacecraft redirecting them to safety.

The Mission's Unique Advantage

While other solar missions observing our star, Aditya-L1 holds an edge compared to rivals regarding watching the corona.

"The instrument is the exact size that lets it effectively simulate the Moon, completely blocking the Sun's photosphere permitting an uninterrupted view of nearly the entire solar atmosphere around the clock, 365 days a year, including during eclipses and occultations," notes the expert.

In other words, this instrument functions as an artificial Moon, blocking the solar glare to let scientists constantly study the dim solar atmosphere – a feat natural eclipses provide only during specific moments.

Additionally, this is the only mission capable of examining eruptions in visible light, letting it measure eruption heat and heat energy – crucial data that show how strong of an eruption when traveling toward Earth.

Readiness for Maximum Activity

In preparation for the upcoming solar maximum, researchers collaborated analyzing information gathered from one of the largest solar eruption that Aditya-L1 has observed recently.

This event began in September 2024 during early hours. The eruption's weight totaled billions of tons – the iceberg that sank Titanic was 1.5 million tonnes.

At origin, the heat reached extreme levels and the energy content comparable to millions of tons of explosives – in comparison the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were much smaller and 21 kilotons each.

Even though the numbers make it sound incredibly large, the scientist describes it as a moderate event.

The space rock which wiped out prehistoric life on Earth was 100 million megatons and during the Sun's maximum activity cycle, there may be eruptions carrying power equal to greater levels.

"In my view this eruption we evaluated happened when the Sun was in the normal activity phase. This establishes the benchmark for future comparison assessing what to expect when the maximum activity cycle arrives," he states.

"The learnings from this will help us work out protective measures to implement safeguarding spacecraft in near space. They will also help us gain deeper knowledge of near-Earth space," he adds.